


Mirror mirror

by myotishia



Series: All ye who enter here [7]
Category: Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-16 12:45:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19318465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: When a local resident claims a copy of himself is trying to destroy his life Torchwood move to investigate.





	1. Doppelganger

**Author's Note:**

> New reader? Start right [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18551278)

Lilith, the half human half daemon escort, had one of her usual clients. An odd man that just seemed to want company, which she was happy to give, who had known her for a couple of years and had been very worried about her when she still had a cast on her leg. He’d called her earlier in the day but didn’t sound himself. When she arrived at his door he had swiftly invited her in and locked the door behind her. 

“Whatever’s the matter?” She asked as she slipped off her coat.

He seemed jittery and anxious. “I haven’t called you since last week, have I?”

“No. Why?”

“Lilith… I-I’m not sure who but someone’s stalking me.”

“Have you reported it to the police?”

“No. I… I don’t know how but… I saw him and he has my face. He’s exactly the same as me. Like looking in the mirror.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“He’s been going after my friends and family. He’s destroying my life.” Jacob broke down, unable to take anymore. She wrapped an arm around him and led him to the sofa.

“How?”

He rubbed at his eyes. “He called my mum and threatened to kill her. He was in the pub the other night and beat my mate Frank. Frank’s still in the hospital. It can’t have been me because I was working late. My boss saw me there while it was happening. I don’t know what to do Lil’. I know he wants me dead.”

“It’s ok, just breath and relax. When did this start?”

“About a month ago… You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“I don’t think you’re crazy darling. I want you to write all of this down with every detail you can think of.”

“Why?”

“I have friends that might be able to help you.” 

 

Ianto was spending a relaxed morning, still recovering from being attacked but much better. He looked up as the front door opened. A tall woman in a corset, a short veil partially covering her face, swept in and smiled.

“Is the good captain around?” She purred, leaning on the counter.

He raised an eyebrow. “May I ask who you are?”

“Oh, how rude of me. My name is Lilith. Jack will know who I am.” She smiled, hopping up to sit on the counter.

Ianto immediately called Jack. “There’s a Lilith up here looking for you… Tall, red hair… Yes, not that I was looking… Right.” He placed down the phone. “He’ll be right with you.”

“Thank you. This place is rather quaint. It’s changed a lot since I visited, especially with the new lookout. I approve.” She looked Ianto over, not hiding it one bit. “Has he got you doing all the boring busy work? I hope he’s paying you well.”

“How do you know Jack?”

“Old friends you could say. I’m sure you understand the arrangement certain unusual citizens have with the institute. My mother was technically one of them before she returned to her home. That was a long time ago. I decided to stay as Earth is so much safer. Someone as small as I could easily get stepped on by most of dear mothers race.”

The hidden door opened and Jack stepped out. “What are you doing here Lilith?”

She looked over at him. “Nice to see you too.” She smiled at the small look Jack gave to Ianto. “Oh so this is who you rejected me for. I’ll forgive you this once, he’s adorable.”

“Lilith.” 

Ianto blushed and made himself look busy while Jack tried to hide his smile.

“What are you doing here?”

She sighed. “Work work work. Fine. I need a favour.”

“What kind?”

“I think some kind of shape shifter is trying to destroy one of my clients lives. Could you maybe look into it?” She hopped down and took a neatly folded paper from her handbag. “He’s not the type to lie and doesn’t take drugs. I’m sure you can quickly double check some of the details. If it’s nothing then it’s nothing but if it isn’t… Well, it already sent one of his friends to hospital and sent death threats to his mother.”

Jack took the paper. “I’ll look into it. How’s your leg?”

“It healed perfectly and I don’t even have much of a scar on my head. You’ll have to thank your medic for me.”

“You can thank him yourself as long as you behave.”

“I promise I will keep my hands to myself.” She held her hands behind her back. 

“It’s not your hands I’m worried about.”

 

Owen lent back in his chair, partially bored as it had been a quiet morning, and partially just stretching. A bored Owen is a very bad thing as he had a tendency to get into mischief. He was considering his options as he heard a familiar voice. Turning round he saw Lilith trotting in next to Jack.

“This place has changed so much. I love what you’ve done with it. Oh hello there Dr Harper.” 

“Lilith? Everything ok?”

“Much better actually, thank you. I owe you. The wound on my head barely left a scar.”

“The glass was sharp so it was a pretty clean cut.”

“It felt sharp. I’ll give you that much.”

Tosh had placed her glasses down and looked between the three, both Gwen and Elise subtly moving over. “How do you know each other?”

Owen turned. “She fell down the stairs and I had to set her broken leg.”

“Oh… I see.”

Lilith chuckled. “So, you’re one of the ladies who claim ownership of the good doctor. Don’t worry, I will keep my hands, and other limbs to myself.”

Gwen looked at Elise and mouthed. “Other limbs?” To which Elise simply shrugged. 

“Being as we’re out of the public eye could I maybe drop this illusion?” Lilith asked, giving her best puppy dog eyes. 

“If you have to, just keep your clothes on.” Jack said as if that was an actual issue. She clapped and pulled away her veil and hairpiece before her hair seemed to shift on its own and she grew at least a foot in height.

“That is so much better.” She beamed, looking at her red claws. Her tail flicked happily from side to side. 

“It’s kind of lucky none of us are religious.” said Gwen.

“Believe me, I’m used to whatever you could throw at me if you were. I’ve been around long enough to hear everything.”

Jack wandered down and handed Gwen the paper he’d been given. “Can you fact check this for me?”

“Sure.” Gwen scooted over to her desk.

Lilith suddenly looked serious. “Oh and Jack? I know Jacob couldn’t have hurt anyone.”

“Lil’ you know people are capable of more than you’d like.” He frowned.

“No. I mean physically. He was in a boating accident a few years ago and never quite recovered. He can barely lift his arms. The man’s as weak as a kitten.”

 

Jacob lent heavily on the table in front of him. He’d been arrested for the murder of his friend who had passed, late the night before. He was just waiting for legal representation and trying to keep himself from completely falling apart. This was it, his doppelganger had destroyed his life. Even if he was found innocent his friend was still dead and everyone would still hate him. The door of the interrogation room opened and a woman entered. She wasn’t wearing a uniform but she had nothing to say she was a lawyer either. 

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t attack him.” He began, tears in his tired eyes. The frail looking man had a greyness to his skin and a slight tremor to his frame.

“I believe you. I’m Gwen. Lilith told me you believe something’s been following you.” 

A small spark of hope flickered in his eyes. “She really did have someone who could help… I … Yes. This thing has my face, my voice, but it’s not me.”

“You said this started months ago. Can you remember anything unusual happening just before it started?”

“No… I don’t think so. I mean… My aunt passed away and my mum asked me if she could keep some of her old stuff at my house.”

“Would you mind us looking around your house?”

“Go ahead. The police have my keys… Look, I can’t come back from this but… Please just stop this thing. I don’t know why it latched on to me but part of me needs to know.”

“I promise we’ll do our best.” 

Jack had listened from just outside the door and held up the keys as Gwen joined him. 

“He’s a mess.” She said solemnly.

“All the more reason to find out what’s going on.” 

 

The house was unassuming, just tidy enough to be ignored but not so tidy as to look out of place. Inside it was clear how much trouble Jacob really had. It was rare to find a thirty two year old with a stair lift and a day bed downstairs for bad days. The spare room upstairs was full of boxes and cases, stacked haphazardly and abandoned. In the centre, lent against the largest stack of boxes, was a huge ornate mirror. The frame looked as if it had been decorated with gold leaf at some point, the remnants of the decoration still visible in the finer details of the carved wood. The glass itself had an odd sheen, like oil on water, across the surface. It was an unusual shape and the frame seemed to have been added long after the mirror itself was made. A grey sheet was draped over a portion of the mirror.

Jack brushed the sheet back to get a proper look at the surface. It was spotless. Usually when mirrors are moved people accidentally leave fingerprints on the glass. He pressed a hand against the glass. It had no give and his fingers left a light smudge. He was about to write it off as just an unusual mirror when his reflection blinked. He immediately covered the mirror back up with the sheet, making sure to cover as much of the reflective surface as he could.

“I think I’ve found our prime suspect.” He called.

Gwen, who had been looking over the boxes in Jacobs bedroom, looked over.

“I hope you can lift that without me.” She smiled.

 

Tosh had sat with Gwen as the guys and Elise moved the huge mirror with the sheet taped over it. Owen had suggested that they should just smash the thing but there was too much chance of missing shards. They’d moved on to testing but Ianto had a bad feeling. When they’d returned, a rat in a cage under Owens arm, the sheet had been peeled back. No one else had seemed to notice but Ianto hoped it had just been a slip of his memory. Owen placed the cage next to the mirror and opened the door. The white mammal sniffed the air and stepped out onto the glass, inspecting the surface for food. After a few minutes the sheet began to move and an exact double of the rat scruffled out from underneath. It sat back on its haunches, its whiskers twitching. The moment it spotted the original it lunged for it, biting into the poor creatures neck and killing it. A rat shouldn’t have been able to inflict that kind of damage. It dropped the body then looked up at Owen, jumping to try and bite him too. He tried to knock it away and it landed on the mirrors surface where it seemed to melt back into it. 

He examined his arm, thankful that the rat hadn’t managed to bite him.

“Well, we know how to get rid of the doppelganger now.” Ianto mused.

“It means that Jacob bloke’s still in danger though.”

“Why didn’t it just attack before?”

“It probably didn’t want to get close to the mirror.” 

 

Jacob stepped out of the police station. It was a simple fact that he wasn’t physically capable of causing the damage he’d been accused of. He took a seat on a bench and rubbed his hands over his face. He was tired, so tired. Looking up he saw himself. Almost like he used to be, standing straight with no sign of the constant exhaustion he felt. 

“Why? Why are you doing this to me?” He asked wearily. 

His reflection grinned. “Because both of us can’t exist and I’m not going back. I thought you would have ended it by now.”

“If you’re me then you know I can’t.”

“Can’t even give up right. No wonder your wife left you.”

“Just get it over with.” 

Jacob closed his eyes and accepted his fate, barely even making a noise as his reflection stabbed a kitchen knife into the side of his neck. His body collapsed sideways, the blade sticking up as his life drained away. His reflection simply walked away, gone before his twin was found. 

 

Owen had finished writing up the test results when his ears were blasted by an alarm. The hub was locking itself down as the team looked at each other in confusion. 

“What’s going on?” Asked Jack, looking over at Tosh. 

She was tapping furiously at her keyboard. “Sensors indicate movement down by the old tracks. This is odd though… Whoever set off the lockdown used your code.”

He walked over to look at her screen, confirming that it was indeed his access code that had been used. “A glitch?”

“It wasn’t automatic so no.”

“I’ll have to change that, but I don’t know how anyone would know my access code. I’ve never written it down.” He looked a mix of annoyed and concerned. 

“The access point that was used is one that hasn’t been used before. It looks like it came from far back in the archives.”

Jack looked round at Ianto who just shrugged. “I’ve been here. I can’t run that fast.”

“Let me see… It wasn’t a workstation. This looks to be a  laptop. The serial number matches one we have in storage but it’s never even been booted up before.”

“Can you get into it? See through the built in camera?”

“There’s no active connection. I can have it alert me to any new connections but until then I can’t do much. Especially if it’s down by the tracks. The level of interference is too high.” 

“Keep trying.”

She nodded. 

“I’m going to go and check it out on foot. Owen, Elise, either of you ever seen the tracks before?”

Owen shook his head. “Never needed to.”

“I heard it was kind of unstable down there.” Said Elise.

“Perfect time for you both to take a look. Grab a couple of torches. Once you get to the tracks there are no lights, but there are a lot of rats.” Jack remembered the last time he’d had to venture that far. It was cold and damp, every sound echoing off the walls. The Torchwood hub wasn’t the only station that was hidden underground. Another sat abandoned, not too far away, an active rift crack running through the centre. Invisible but very much still there.

 

The archives went from their usual strange, anachronistic, state to older, mostly forgotten shelves of boxes. Past there the lights were older and dimmer, some looking as if they had been upgraded from old gas lamps to still old, barely safe, electrical ones. A long set of steps led down into the darkness of the station. They’d found no signs of life to this point, much to their disappointment. There was only one way anyone could go and that was the tracks. Jack walked over to the wall and lit one of the old oil lamps, then another. They wouldn’t last too long as they were mostly empty but it was something. Elise studied the still brightly coloured tiles, no chance of the light bleaching them. The top of the wall had a fine layer of soot from years of servicing trains and being lit by oil lamps. It was fascinating and hauntingly beautiful. It hadn’t been destroyed by vandals and squatters as most abandoned places were so it was as if it had frozen in time, perfectly preserved. 

“Having fun over there?” Called Jack from the platform.

“The logo here looks different.”

“It’s the old one. A lot’s changed over the years.” He took a flare from his pocket and tossed it down the tunnel.

“Do you just have a bag of holding instead of a pocket?”

He looked confused. 

Owen hopped down onto the tracks. “It’s a dungeons and dragons thing. Looks like a normal bag but it has infinite space inside.”

“Like a TARDIS.”

“Pretty much. It just only goes where you do.” He helped Elise down and they headed into the tunnel. 

It was lit bright red up to a curve in the tunnel. The air felt still and cold, almost making it hard to breath. As the area was blocked off and the ventilation was closed long ago.

“What happened to the train that used to run through here?” Elise asked as she walked carefully forward.

“Cars were more convenient and transfers between branches became so rare it was pointless to keep running. That and we lost it.” Jack shrugged.

“You lost it? A train.”

“We think it fell through the rift during a bad spike. After that we closed a couple of the flood doors and moved higher up to where the hub is now.”

“Logical I guess.”

Just past the turn something moved in the darkness. The three focused their lights upon the side corridor they thought the sound had come from. It was hard to tell in the echoing tunnel. Nothing. They were on edge, with indents in the walls and maintenance doors hidden by the darkness they could easily been ambushed. 

Jack stopped. “We should head back. Close the flood door and wait out whatever it is.”

“I’m with you on that.” Said Owen through gritted teeth. 

A loud bang deafened them and Jack dropped, a bullet hole decorating the centre of his forehead. Owen and Elise took cover in the side tunnels, relying on the light from the torch Jack dropped. For a moment everything was silent.

Elise felt a hand clamp over her mouth and a sharp sting in her neck, a burning pain radiating from it. A buzzing sensation flooded through her body, sapping all strength from her. The world looked as if it was spinning and she couldn’t even cry out when she was picked up.

 

After a long, crushing, silence Jack awoke with a gasp. He tried to remember where he was and what had happened. Images rushed through his mind and he put together what had happened. 

“Jack!” Hissed Owen, not wanting to peek out of cover lest he get the same treatment. The captain pulled the lens from his coat and slipped them on. No life signs just in front of them. 

“It’s clear. You ok?”

“Yea. Elise, you can come out now.”

There was no response. 

Jack stood and dusted himself off. “Which way did she go?”

“The other side. Elise!” He called again, still no response. 

There were no life signs visible in that direction.  They hoped she hadn’t been hit but with the aid of some extra light they didn’t see a body. Jack looked in the general direction of the hub and could see where the others were, then turned to the only other place someone could have got to. The other station. Two life signs were moving swiftly in that direction. 

“This way.” He said, running down the tunnel. A rumbling sound rose in the darkness as the flood door began to close. They knew they wouldn’t make it before the thing closed but it didn’t stop Owen trying. He kicked at the metal wall in rage. 

Jack was about to say something when his vortex manipulator beeped with a notification. A message. 

A small, blue, hologram rose from his wrist that looked disturbingly like himself. The voice that came from it sounded exactly like him too. 

His doppelganger smiled. “You’re too predictable. Not completely fair, you’re me so of course I knew what you would do. You know I can’t kill you and you can’t kill me so we’re at a standstill. I thought getting a little leverage would be in my best interest. If you ever want to see them in one piece again then go back and wait for my demands. I’ll be in touch.”      


	2. Trade off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team work on getting Elise back in one piece. (Warning: nightmare fuel imagery.)

Elise tried to blink away the haze with her head swimming, she tried desperately to surface and understand what was happening. Whoever had kidnapped her placed her down on a very basic bed that felt more like a table, having very little give at all. She had to try and concentrate just to keep her eyes half open. Her kidnapper brushed back her hair.

“How are you still awake? I’m impressed, usually you’d be in a deep sleep by now but it looks like you’re going to be a fighter.” A familiar American accent echoed through her ears.

“Ja… Jack?” She slurred, barely able to form the word.

“Kind of. I’m not the version you’re working for. Remember that mirror? That’s what it does, creates a reflection of whoever is caught in it. Keep breathing, you’re more valuable to me alive.” His words had a cold edge but she couldn’t see him clearly to prove or disprove who he was.

“What… you… do...to…”

“It’s a little something I picked up from the archive. It’s something the time agency developed. They use it on extremely dangerous prisoners but it’s perfect for keeping a hostage from trying to escape.”

She could feel a tear rolling down her cheek, fear taking over as she could barely keep herself conscious let alone fight.

He wiped it away gently. “Don’t worry. I told you, you’re more use to me alive. As long as your captain plays fair I’m not going to do a thing to you. Don’t get me wrong, if we’d met under better circumstances I would have bought you a drink, but right now you might as well just be a USB stick or a folder.”

This didn’t make her feel any better. In fact it made things worse. She tried to just move her arm, wanting to put feeling back in her limbs. She wasn’t tied up so if she could just will her body into moving she could maybe work out a way to escape. What she hadn’t taken into account was that she was so spaced out it became very obvious what she was doing. The more vicious version of Jack grabbed her right wrist in a crushing grip.

“Just because I admire your fighting spirit doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you if you start playing up. You should already know what I’m capable of. What I gave you makes you as weak as a kitten, meaning I could do anything I wanted to you and you could barely even scream.” 

Her wrist felt like it was on fire. “Please… Please stop.” She whimpered, frightened that her wrist would break. He was right, she couldn’t even pull away. Her arm dropped to her side limply. “Now, be a good girl before I lose my temper and do something I’ll regret.”

It took everything she had not to descend into sobs, still unable to make her thoughts fully solidify. 

The doppelganger opened up his laptop, starting a video call to his native counterpart. 

Elise’s captain already sounded furious. “I swear if you’ve hurt her!”

“She’s right here, safe and sound. And that’s how she’ll stay as long as you play ball.”

“Prove it.”

He wrapped an arm around her and lifted her up, her head flopping forward before he lifted her chin to face the camera. “See? Doped up but fine. You destroy that mirror and I’ll give her the antidote and send her back to you no harm done. Until then she stays with me. You make a wrong move and she pays for it.”

She could hear her Jack growl. “Keep your hands off her.”

“You're not the one giving the orders now, understand?” He wrapped his fingers around her neck, leaning uncomfortably close to her face. She tried desperately to pull away or shake her head, gasping. 

“Please… No… Help me.” She whimpered, her words soft and distant, feeling her airway closing slowly.

“Stop! I’ll do it, just don’t hurt her.” 

The mirrored Jack released his grip but stayed close, hot breath on Elise’s ear. “So he does care about you. Isn’t that sweet?”

The twenty eight year old woman looked like a frightened child, tears running freely down her face. 

“Aww, no need to cry. I’m sure your captain is doing to make sure you’re going to be just fine.” He grabbed her by her hair and made her look at the screen, seeing the mix of fury and deep concern etched into her captain’s face. She had to leave her own fate to him and finally gave up fighting the drug coursing through her body, falling limp.

 

There was a long silence before Owen couldn’t hold his tongue anymore. “Why are we just fucking sitting here?!”

“Owen!” Jack boomed.

“No! What if he kills her?!”

“He won’t. She’s his only bargaining chip.”

Tosh looked between them before interjecting. “I can get the flood door open when you need me to but he didn’t stay connected long enough for me to get control of his computer. I’m sorry.” 

Jacks disposition softened slightly. “It’s ok. Hold off on doing anything until we have a plan. He wants the mirror destroyed so we can’t get rid of him.”

“Will it still work if it’s in pieces?” She asked.

Owen walked past, seemingly on a mission.

“Owen, where are you going?”

“I’m going to find out. I can’t just sit here.”

“Bu-”

Jack shook his head. “It’s ok. It’s a good idea. Use the death scythe, you should be able to get a clean cut without damaging the rest of the mirror, he’ll want to see it being destroyed for himself.” 

Owen answered him with a look before walking away. 

Gwen bit her lip and studied her shoes. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“We get Elise back and deal with him afterwards. She has to be our priority for now. At least we have him trapped.”

Tosh took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “Do you know what he gave her?”

“I think it’s just a sedative. She’s going to be ok.”

She could tell there was something he wasn’t saying but she couldn’t work out what. Gwen asked what she couldn’t bring herself to. “How can you be sure? What drug is it?”

He looked to the floor. “It was something I had archived years ago. The time agency used it when transporting prisoners and I had a couple of injectors left when I ended up here. It keeps you weak and disoriented but doesn’t leave any lasting damage. Even without the antidote it only lasts about 48 hours.”

“If it’s that old will it wear off sooner?”

“No.”

Tosh looked up, eyes wide. “What does it do when it’s old? When it’s been left that long?”

There it was. The thing he was trying to keep to himself. “Tosh-”

“Please. I just want to know what she’ll be dealing with when we get her back.”

When. That was a good sign. Tosh hadn’t given up on bringing her back in one piece. 

“It can cause hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia. But like I said, it’s not permanent. She’s going to be ok. We’ll bring her back, I promise.” He assured her before turning to go and study the mirror. Ianto had been waiting for him out of sight.

“He’s not you. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

Jack jolted. “Stop doing that. I’m going to end up hitting you out of reflex one of these days.”

“It hasn’t happened yet.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Ianto… He is me. A reflection of me.”

“I twisted reflection. You wouldn’t do this.” He placed a soft hand on Jacks shoulder.

“You have too much faith in me. If I was desperate enough-”

“You’d have to be a lot more desperate than he is. Maybe he’s who you could have been but he’s not who you are. He’s not the man I know.”

Jack couldn’t help but let the outward mask he always wore slip, looking away, his jaw clenched. Ianto gently placed a warm hand against Jacks cheek.

“Look at me… I know you’ve had a past and done things you regret. We all have, but you’re not the man who did those things. Not anymore.”

“I’m scared… I’m scared because I know what I  **was** capable of.”

“We won’t let anything happen.”

 

Elise wasn’t fighting anymore but that didn’t mean she wasn’t listening and watching when she could. The man who wore Jacks face had lit an oil lamp and a couple of candles to light the room. With her vision blurry at best she guessed she was in an office. The walls were the same colour as some of the unused offices were in the archives and she could see the vague shape of a desk. The walls seemed to ripple and every flicker of the light made it look like they were a thin layer of skin and something was writhing underneath. She wanted to look away but she knew the other wall, behind her, would be much worse. 

A sound came from above which she partially recognised. 

“Mortal. What are you doing?” Asked a voice that sounded layered. It was young, old, male and female at the same time. Rofocale. How was she there. Two black orbs of eyes opened in the ceiling.

“You shouldn’t have brought your physical form here human. It does not seem to be handling it well.” The daemon said, pressing her face through the plaster and crawling down. Her face warped and morphed like the walls had. “Or are you here because of him? He can’t see me like you can. Should I take your physical form with me?” She reached down with a clawed hand.

Elise desperately tried to shake her head, closing her eyes as tightly as she could, her heart pounding in her head. 

“What substance have you taken mortal? You shouldn’t ingest anything that leaves you in this condition. Well, I offered to remove you from this situation but if you do not wish to go then I shall leave you be for now. I will meet you when your form sleeps once more. Oh, and thank you for sending Abaddons minion to me. He is highly entertaining.” She laughed. She sound was sharp and cruel.

Elise couldn’t work out what she’d meant, but that might have been whatever was keeping her barely able to function. The doppelganger sighed to himself. 

“I hope your captain’s prepared to break that mirror, otherwise I’m going to have to start breaking fingers and let’s face it, you only have five. I wonder what would happen if I cut away that symbol on your hand. Would you still be able to travel through time? It feels almost worth it just to find out. After this is over I was thinking you could come with me. You won’t have anything left here so you may as well have some company. We’re both anomalies. Both in the wrong time because of people who suckered us into believing in something better than ourselves. Could be fun. I know you hate me right now, but I’ve ended up in bed with plenty of people who wanted me dead so it wouldn’t be impossible.” He turned to look at the glare she was attempting. He chuckled. “Very scary. Different from the whimpering little creature you were a few minutes ago. That’s what happens when I have to use drugs that are centuries out of date. I was a little surprised it worked at all, but better this than having to chain you down. That was plan B.” He kicked at the shackles left on the floor. “Think I’ve given them enough time? Let’s hope so.” He reopened the laptop, clicking the call button and a timer to remind him when to metaphorically pull the plug. He knew they wouldn’t try anything while he still had his hostage but he was talking about Toshiko Sato here. He wasn’t going to take any risks, especially after kidnapping her girlfriend. That was asking for computer based suffering. And being as, as far as he knew, the whole area was wired up to the same system that could mean a lot of trouble.

 

Jack sat waiting. He knew it wouldn’t be long and he wouldn’t be disappointed. He answered the call and saw his mirror self waving at him mockingly. 

“Is it done?”

“Not yet-”

The doppelganger grabbed Elises hand, taking a firm grip of her middle finger. “Are you sure?”

“You want to see it destroyed don’t you?! We knew you wouldn’t just take our word for it.”

He loosened his grip on Elises hand but didn’t let go. “That’s fair. Go ahead, show me what I want to see, but you stall and take too long and I’ll make sure your delightful tech expert sees every moment of me breaking her beloved's hand.”

Jack turned the camera to view the propped up mirror, the grey sheet hanging from one of the corners. Ianto stood with a hammer in hand, waiting for the signal. He raised it and slammed it into the glass that shattered into a million pieces, scattering across the floor. A laugh came from the computer speakers.

“You really aren’t me. You were willing to destroy your one chance of getting rid of me for a single mortal, human, woman. You’re not thinking of the long game are you? And the worst part is you know what comes next. There’s nowhere I can go but past you and you know what my ticket is.”

“Just bring her with you. We just want her back safe.”

“She will be as long as you do as I say. I’ve kept her safe so far, see?” He turned the laptop camera to look at Elise who was staring, wide eyed at the wall, but still clearly alive. “She has some imagination. Have you worked out what that mirror was?”

“It can make a disposable army, but it’s faulty.”

“So your heart hasn’t completely addled your mind. Yes, it makes armies, easy to send out and easy to clean up. Stronger and more deadly than the original ever was. No conscience, little empathy and all the training necessary to get the job done. Even better if the original is already a trained killer. Even better if they’re specifically trained to torture people. You pick up things best when you’re young, it imprints on your mind and never really goes away. Inflicting pain is like language, you never really forget it.” The connection cut, leaving a still image frozen on the screen that read: The door. One hour. Send Ianto alone. Unarmed. Remember, one wrong move.

 

The doppelganger patted Elise on the cheek. “Focus. I’m going to have your best friend meet us by the door. He can carry you the rest of the way. If he stays useful he might live for a while.”

“You think… It’s… So… Easy.” She slurred, attempting to focus her vision on him.

“It will be because they care about your safety. You’re much too out of your mind to use your abilities and your captain knows better than to underestimate me.”

“You’ll … Die.”

“And what’s that going to do? I’m the same as your captain. I can’t stay dead.” He glared down at her. 

“Always… A… Way… Could throw… you … to the… rift.”

He grabbed the chains from the floor, shackling her wrists and ankles. “You shouldn’t threaten the one with your life in his hands.”

“Not… threat… Promise.” She growled as best she could. 

He lifted her by the front of her shirt and held her close to his face, red flecks decorating his ice blue irises. “Do you want me to hurt you?”

Of course she didn’t but she’d managed to focus enough to see that the computer was doing something independently from him, meaning Tosh had got in and she couldn’t risk him noticing. That computer likely held a clue about where he planned to go once out and a possible hint of what exactly he planned to do. It would be worth a broken finger or two. She glared right back at him. 

A smirk spread across his face and he grabbed her chained wrists and dragged her out to the platform, a chair dragged behind in his other hand. He stepped up and threw the chain over a hook that had once held a heavy sign. Her shoulders didn’t appreciate having her entire weight suddenly suspended on them but she just had to deal with it for less than an hour until the meeting time. She’d been through worse. Even with her hazy mind making it feel so much worse she could cope. She needed to keep her eyes closed to stop the shadows crawling towards her. The sound of the chains settling, echoed through the cavernous room, warped into high voices. Like the laughter of children. 

“How long do you think you’ve been here?”

She couldn’t tell. Altered states warped the concept of time badly.

He dragged the chair in front of her and sat, leaning on the back. “A few hours? It could have been days for all you know. You’ve been in and out of consciousness and in that time I could have done anything to you.”

She didn’t want to think about that, but she was fairly certain he was just trying to get into her head. She’d been fighting off the paranoia the whole time and she wasn’t planning to let it get to her now. It was bad enough that the skin of her legs felt like something was crawling underneath it. 

“The longer that stuff is in your system, the worse it gets. It’s a slow poisoning. Not enough to kill you but I’ve heard of people losing their minds if they aren't given the antidote before the 24 hour mark.” He held up an injector. “If you beg I might give it to you.”

“Die.”

“You were begging earlier. Is it because I asked? Or maybe you’re just into this. I’ve never really asked about your bedroom activities.” He laughed. 

Mocking her wasn’t going to do a damn thing but the muscles in her chest tightening just might. 

 

Tosh bit her lip. Shed managed to clone the laptop to search through it. She’d also gained access to the tracker that had once been part of Elises phone. She’d transferred it into her metal arm along with a small bug. It only recorded sound with an active connection but it was certainly useful. 

She couldn’t handle listening anymore, tossing her headphones aside. She studied the maps that the doppelganger had downloaded to limit the time he was connected to the network. The maps confirmed what they’d suspected. As soon as he was free he was planning to eliminate them and possibly lock the hub down permanently using explosives he’d checked the archive records for. 

“Gwen?” She began. “Can I ask you a favour?”

Gwen nodded and scooted closer. “Of course.”

“When we get Elise back, can you ask her what happened… I don’t think I could cope and I don’t think she’s going to want anyone else around. I’ve been hearing things and I…”

“It’s ok. I will.” Interrupted Gwen, seeing Tosh choke up. 

“I know I could just be thinking the worst because the connection’s weak and a little distorted but I can’t help it.” 

“It’s natural to fear the worst. We just have to be here for her, yea?” She was doing her best to be supportive but she’d seen victims have their relationships fall apart before. She hoped that Tosh was just jumping to conclusions, especially as they knew that Elise would be hallucinating and scared. It was easily done when fearing the worst anyway.

 

Ianto hated that he’d have to face down this faulty copy of the man he loved but he hoped he could at least keep his friend safe. Dust kicked up as the flood door began to rise, groaning with its own weight. A light peeked under the door and grew as it rose into the air. The doppelganger stood, holding the chain attached to Elises wrists in one hand and a lamp in the other. He’d been dragging her the whole way. He held out the chain and let Ianto pick her limp body up. She was still breathing but she was whimpering every so often as if trapped in a nightmare. 

“Walk ahead. If you try and run, she dies.” 

Ianto could see a fine wire wrapped around her neck, trailing back to the doppelgangers hand. He gritted his teeth, knowing he had no option but to comply. He took slow steps, trying his best to comfort the woman in his arms. At the station he placed her gently on the platform before climbing up. She was looking at him bus didn’t seem to recognise who he was. 

The doppelganger dropped an injector in front of him. “Here. It’s the antidote. It takes an hour to kick in.”

Ianto pocketed it. “I don’t trust you.”

“Trust me or not, that’s what it is. At this point I could kill her with a flick of my wrist, no reason to keep her doped up. Suit yourself.” 

He picked Elise up and held her close. “It’s ok. It’s me. Nearly safe.”

“How’s my counterpart? I’m wondering how much it will take to reach a full breakdown.”

“He’s fine.” 

 

Jack couldn’t shake the anxiety in the pit of his stomach as he tracked their progress. He’d sent the others to the autopsy bay, out of the line of fire, just in case anything went wrong. He looked up and saw Ianto carefully holding Elise who was pathetically trying to escape. 

“We finally meet face to face.” The doppelganger said flatly. 

“The pleasures all yours I’m sure. You can let them both go, I won’t stop you leaving. I’m not even armed.” It was true. No amount of gunfire would help the situation.

“It was fun doing business with you. We’ll meet again, I can assure you of that.” He walked towards Jack, dropping the wire and heading for the lift. As he’d just passed Jack he felt something sharp pierce his stomach. Something Jack had kept hidden partially up his sleeve. He looked down to see a large shard of glass, half embedded in his body. Jack grunted as he stabbed it the rest of the way into the fake who had already begun to melt and be pulled back into the surface. 

“No, we won’t.” Jack growled as he watched his reflection pulled away into nothing. Just having him touch the mirror would have done but Jack hadn’t been able to contain his rage any longer. 

 

Three hours later Gwen sat next to Elise as she was recovering. 

“How are you feeling?” She asked softly.

Elise opened an eye. “My shoulders hurt and my wrists are a bit sore but the walls have stopped melting so that’s nice.”

“Owen said the side effects might last for a while.”

“Where is everyone?”

“Out trying to track down Jacobs double.”

She frowned and closed her eyes again. “I thought at least Tosh would want to be here with me.”

“Oh, no. You don’t understand. She’s not avoiding you she just wanted me to talk to you first.”

“About what?”

“Elise, when you were down there Tosh activated the bug in your arm and heard some sounds that… She was having trouble interpreting. Did he…”

“No. He threatened but he kept his hands to himself… He already had power over me so I guess he didn’t think that was necessary.”

Gwen visibly relaxed and smiled softly. 

“What she heard was probably me reacting to the eyes in the ceiling or the bugs under my skin.” She shuddered.

“You’re handling it well.”

“I might cry later but it’s no different to what’s in the rift.”

“What?”

“There are things I can’t describe in there. Creatures that can live there are … Beyond comprehension. At least with the daemons I can communicate with them. The sentient lights, not so much. I’ve met some nasty things in the dark… Things that don’t like mortals.”

“You’re in one piece at least.”

“Physically.”

“I don’t…”

“I know how Jack feels when he’s healing from something that should kill you… The world’s spinning again.” She grumbled, resting her arm over her eyes. 

 

Owen had hit the ground running. He had a lot of pent up anger that he’d had to suppress while helping Elise recover. She’d been a whimpering mess that kept trying to fight him off whenever he got close to her, and tried to curl up in a ball when Ianto got the bolt cutters to remove her shackles. Once he’d had some exercise he’d be fine but until then he was like a coiled spring. Jacob, well his double, had sprinted away when Owen and Jack had told him to freeze at Liliths door. He’d been in the middle of trying to break it down and Lilith, to her credit, had just called Jack to come and save the fool from her wrath. 

Jacob hopped a fence but that wasn’t going to stop Owen following. The young doctor tackled the man, knocking him to the floor. He took the shard of mirror from inside his coat and brought it down, into Jacobs spine. It was cathartic but did leave him with a fine cut across his palm. It was worth it. He pressed a dressing to his hand and tucked the shard away, taking a deep breath. The adrenaline slowly eased as he walked back, seeing Jack and Lilith waiting for him. 

“Did you get him?” She asked.

“He’s back where he belongs.”

Jack smiled. “See? He’s not as strong as some but he’s fast.”

“Want to put some context in there Harkness?”

“It’s more fun without. Feeling better?”

“My hand isn’t but the rest of me, yea.”

“Let’s get that piece back with the rest. Ianto tells me Elise is lucid and she’s fine.”

Owen smiled. “Good. Gwen had a word with her then?”

“Yep. All clear. Her reaction had more to do with feeling like there were bugs under her skin.”

Owen shuddered. “Don’t say shit like that.”    

 


End file.
